The road to a miracle
by goldenblade
Summary: After finding his father's journal Arnold will get an unexpected visitor that will lead him into an adventure that could very well be the key to the search of his parents, post-FTi and the journal
1. It starts like this

**Alright so this is the beginning of my story, this story will be a prologue to the TJM fanfic that i plan to write and also this story will be centered around Arnold so there won't be any romance in it except for a few moments then and there but just that!  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Hey Arnold! Arnold and the gang belong to none other than Craig Barlett**

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**Chapter 1: It starts like this**

It is a warm and peaceful afternoon in a city in the state of Washington known as Hillwood City, children playing happily on the streets, adults doing their jobs, a normal day, we take a look at neighborhood where a red building with a green door and a rather strange sign that says "no kids, pets okay" stands, a building that even though holds a modest and old look also holds a great story inside its walls and also houses a rather weird but eccentric family of borders.

The Sunset Arms boarding house has been standing on Hillwood City for God knows how long and it's also one of the city's most ancient reliques since it had an important role on what came to be known as the "Tomato war" and since that history was discovered on what came to be known as the FTi incident the big red house along with the entire neighborhood had been declared a historical landmark preventing the FTi industry and it's evil owner Alfonse Pierre Du Von Sheck from destroying it.

All of the neighborhood's inhabitants were really happy that day since they knew that their home was safe and would never be in danger of going down again.

But they all knew _who_ they had to thank for that…

Sitting on the edge of the roof of the boarding house casually watching the sunset is a kid with golden blonde hair sticking up and pointing in all directions and bright green eyes that resemble two beautiful emeralds that could easily hypnotize someone but the most notable detail about the boy would be his oblong shaped head or as some people like to call it football-shaped head.

10-year old Arnold Crystal was leaning on the edge of his house watching the sunset with his famous half-lidded smile, something he had gotten used to do for a while now, he couldn't describe it but there was just something so relaxing about watching the sunset something that always managed to make him have a feeling of warmness.

Arnold hadn't changed much in appearance except for his clothes; he stopped using his blue sweater and traded it for a white t-shirt that he wears underneath his unbuttoned plaid shirt and also wears blue jeans and he also traded his black shoes for a pair of white and blue ones but he still wore his usual blue hat on top of his head which he would not change for anything in the world but aside from his clothes no big changes, just same Arnold.

The football-headed boy had gained quite some fame around the city not only for being considered the hero who saved not only his home but the home of much other people but also for all of the good deeds he had accomplished in the course of his young life, he had been the boy who had put a forgotten singer back on the map, the boy who had encouraged an old writer to publish a book after years, the boy who had healed the teenager known as "stoop kid" of his fears, the boy who had cured the kid known as "chocolate kid" from his obsession, the boy who had defeated the champion of eating at the eating contest, the boy who had freed a poor turtle from its prison at the aquarium, the boy who alongside his grandmother saved the circle theater from being destroyed and also much more known by his latest achievement, saving his neighborhood from the evil corporation Future Tech Industries and had its owner behind the bars after having exposed him to the people.

But of course, Arnold did not take all the credit for saving the neighborhood, he had to thank his best friend Gerald Johansen for being by his side all the way and also for providing his support to him because if it wasn't for Gerald and his bus-driving skills he couldn't have probably made it back to the neighborhood in time, for this Gerald had also been considered a local hero and had also gained some fame himself which he often used to brag about to his older brother Jamie-O whenever he started to tease him and of course his parents were proud of him, in the newspaper Arnold and Gerald were labeled as being "a real-life kid version of men in black".

Gerald hadn't changed too, just a little bit of his clothing; he ditched his red 33 t-shirt and started wearing a red 33 jersey but still kept his same jeans and his same white and red shoes and he also kept his same hairstyle and he still had his secret crush on Phoebe though it is pretty obvious they like each other.

But Arnold knew there was other person he had to give the most of the thanks…His source Helga G. Pataki.

Helga had been the one secretly helping Arnold and Gerald all the way under her cover of "Deep voice". Arnold had to admit that if it wasn't for Helga he probably couldn't have saved the neighborhood and he was deeply grateful to Helga for having helped him but every time he thought back on this he couldn't help but think about _that _moment on the top of the building when he discovered that she was deep voice…Their kiss.

Of course, Arnold had made some thinking about this, the way she confessed to him and the way she had kissed him, forcefully and passionately, but still at the end of that day they had agreed that it all had been in "the heat of the moment" but after thinking about it Arnold started doubting on Helga's agreement.

Arnold had been having his suspicions for a while now as he thought back on all the other times Helga had helped him like the time when she convinced her father to fund the allegoric car for the parade and the time she had fought alongside him and their friends to save Mighty Pete from being destroyed and according to Mr. Bailey she had been the one who helped him find Mr. Hyunn's long-lost daughter Mai at the last minute by giving up her own Christmas gift.

Helga hadn't changed at all, she still wears her pink dress and her white shoes, still has her blonde hair in pigtails and still has her unibrow and of course still wears her pink bow over her head.

Arnold knew that she couldn't hate him after all she had done for him but he understood that Helga needs time to adjust to her feelings and to gather enough courage to come out of her shell but Arnold also needed time to figure out his own feelings since he didn't know if what he felt for her was actually love or if it was just a sense of gratitude towards her for all the things she did for him, but Arnold also knew about Helga's fears and he knew that her fear was not only of rejection but she was also afraid of what their classmates would think because Helga knew that if their friends found out that she was in love with her victim they would just look at her as another target to pick on but Arnold knew that it wasn't going to be that way.

He knew that if their classmates were really their friends then they wouldn't make fun of them and just go with it, of course he wouldn't expect this from someone as immature as Harold but that was Harold for you, he was always making fun of the first thing he could thought but Arnold would not care about everyone's opinion because Arnold knew that love isn't something someone should be embarrassed about and Arnold was not about to let his friends take control of his life and he would make Helga see this one day.

But his own question still remained unanswered…_Did _he love her?

Shaking his head Arnold looked at the sunset once more and decided to go for a little walk to clear his mind a little, he stood up climbed down through his skylight and into his room, he exited his room and descended the stairs walking down the hallway where he ran into his grandpa, owner of Sunset Arms and historical "War hero", "Steely" Phil Crystal who was coming out the bathroom or as he liked to call it his "office".

-"Hey short man ¿where are you going?" Phil said holding a newspaper under his arm.

-"just going to take a walk grandpa" Arnold said.

-"Really, well I'm surprised you don't usually take walks out at this time of the day ¿is something wrong?" Phil asked.

-"No, not at all grandpa, I just need to clear my mind for a while" Arnold answered.

-"Okay short man but be back before dark, it's almost dinner time" Phil said.

-"I know, grandpa, I know" Arnold said going down the stairs.

As Phil watched his grandson descend the stairs he smiled to himself knowing exactly what Arnold was thinking about given the case that he was in Arnold's position when he was a kid and also because Arnold had already told him all that happened on the FTi building during his escape and his kiss with Helga. Phil had a feeling that Arnold & Helga were meant for each other and he knew that Arnold would see this one day; he knew that Arnold would follow his instincts just like he did with Arnold's grandmother and just look at them now having been married for years with an amazing son and a wonderful grandson.

But at the moment Phil thought about his son, Arnold's father, Miles Crystal he wondered if Arnold was actually thinking about his problems with Helga or if he was thinking about what had happened 2 weeks ago just 2 days before his 10th birthday, Phil sighed and just decided to leave Arnold to take care of his thoughts.

* * *

When Arnold reached the first floor of the house he saw his grandmother Gertrude Crystal or as his grandpa liked to call her "Pookie" doing one of her scenes of being Gwana hunting a fly in the kitchen, Arnold smiled to himself and opened the door to exit the boarding house and letting in the usual stampede of animals leadered by his pet pig Abner.

Arnold exited the boarding house and started walking down the sidewalk thinking about the discovery he made 2 weeks ago, of course everyone thought that stopping FTi form destroying the neighborhood had been the boy's greatest achievement but for Arnold his greatest achievement and miracle had happened on the saddest day of the year for him, October 5th, that discovery was what he was mainly focused on right now.

Just two days before his birthday on the anniversary of the day his parents left Hillwood City he unintentionally found his father's journal in which he had written all of his adventures in San Lorenzo, the way he met Arnold's mother and the way Arnold was born but that wasn't what caught most of the attention on Arnold's mind, it was something he had discovered later that night

The map…

Arnold had discovered a map on the last page of the journal which in his opinion was his greatest discovery and this made him wonder if by finding the map destiny was trying to send him some sort of signal that it was his time to go to San Lorenzo.

After telling his grandparents about the map they wondered what they could do with it, they thought they could handed it over to the police, but Arnold knew this wasn't a good idea since they probably just go but would find nothing since they didn't know anything about what they would be looking for.

The police didn't know anything about the green-eyed people which were the reason why Arnold's parents returned to San Lorenzo, he knew that if they went to look for his parents they would find nothing and would just conclude the mission as failed.

Arnold decided that he would not give up the map; he knew that if he wanted to find his parents he had to stand up to the challenge and go to San Lorenzo himself. But the question was ¿how _could_ he?

Even though his grandparents owned the boarding house they didn't had enough money to send him to another country and of course they wouldn't let him venture of by himself in a jungle.

Snapping out of his thoughts Arnold looked around and realized that it was already dark so he decided to run back to the boarding house before the street lights went on.

As he reached the boarding house he took one last sight at the moon wondering if his parents were looking at it right now wherever they were…

* * *

After dinner Arnold went back to his room and slipped out of his clothes and into his PJ's before he reached into a shelf on his computer desk where he had the journal, Arnold looked at it and opened it to go to the last page and see the map, Arnold looked at it and then raised his head to look at the stars in the night sky through his skylight, he remembered that he had bowed to find a way to reach San Lorenzo and go looking for his parents and he would fulfill that bow.

He **would** go to San Lorenzo.

He **would **find the green eyes.

He **would **find his parents.

He just needed to wait until the chance came and he knew it would come eventually.

-"_I promise you guys, I'll go there and I will find you even if I have to do it alone" _Arnold thought.

With this clear Arnold put the journal back on its shelf, went to bed and drifted off to sleep peacefully looking at the stars through his skylight.

-"_I promise to find you Mom and Dad"._

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_**Author**_**_ notes_:** Okay so this was the beginning of my story which will be a sort of prologue to my TJM fanfic so I'll make ssome things clear, this story will have no romance in it just a few moments so if you're an arnoldxhelga fan i don't know if you'll like this story, and also i do know that Arnold's last name is supposed to be Shortman but in my universe Crystal is his last name since the Shortman last name was not actually confirmed *sigh* if only we could've had the jungle movie *sad face*.**  
**

Well anyway this is the beginning of the story and stay tunned for more updates! See ya.


	2. And so it begins

**Hey guys! How was the first chapter I hope you all liked it i wanted to review all of Arnold's life after the journal, so well this chapter will have a few surprises in it so enjoy it!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Hey Arnold! It belongs to Craig Barlett.**

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**Chapter 2: And so it begins**

Arnold was hiking through the jungle; he couldn't actually believe that he had really made it to San Lorenzo, right now he was following a jungle trail and was wearing a pair of hiking boots and a explorer belt around his waist, the trail he was following was hopefully the one that would lead him straight to the green eyes' hidden city, Arnold was too excited in a matter of seconds he would complete his mission and he would have his parents back with him, suddenly Arnold realized he had stopped walking and just shook his head and continued.

After several minutes of walking Arnold came to the end of the trail to find what seemed to be a stone shrine, the shrine had several butterflies flying around it, the table of it covered by flowers and some green smoke coming out of it and at the top of the shine engraved in rock was a drawing of an eye.

Arnold gazed at the shrine shocked not only by its beauty but also shocked that he had found it.

-"This must be it" Arnold said.

Arnold pulled out of his shirt a golden medallion he had hanging around his neck which had engraved in it the drawing of an eye just like the one on the stone shrine and in the middle of the medallion was a little green emerald to make the drawing of it resemble a green eye.

Arnold took the medallion in his hands and showed it to the shrine, suddenly the medallion started glowing and a beam of green energy got shoot out of it and into the stone eye of the shrine, the shrine started shaking and opened itself as if it was a door and from the inside of it came a bright and almost blinding white light.

Arnold for a moment covered his eyes unable to see the light but when he got adjusted to it his emerald green eyes widened and he started taking steps forward to the light.

-"Whoa" Arnold said closing his eyes.

Suddenly all of the world around him started going white until it was completely white but then it started to become dark until it was complete darkness…

* * *

_HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD!_

Arnold awoke at the sound of his potato alarm clock gasping and looked at his surroundings to realize that he was in his room, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh disappointed that it all had been a dream like almost every time but he didn't give it too much thought now, it was Tuesday and today he would be helping in the YMAA gym for the Halloween costume party that PS. 118 was organizing.

Today the whole class of the 5th grade was going to be taking the day off to organize the gym and get it fixed up for the party.

Arnold & Gerald were going to be helping with the decorations for the dance along with all the other kids of their class while Rhonda was the one that was put in charge of overseeing their work, the kids thought this was unfair since Rhonda was always the one who got the easiest job but they could do nothing against Mr. Simmons' decision.

Looking at his clock Arnold widened his eyes he realized that he was late since he and Gerald had promised each other that they were going to be at the gym early today so they could start sooner and likewise finish the job sooner.

-"_Oh great, I better hurry" _Arnold thought.

He climbed out of his bed and slipped out of his PJ's and into his new usual clothes that he started to use since beginning the 5th grade, he finished his morning routine by adjusting his hat right on his head, after doing this Arnold headed down to the kitchen for a quick breakfast before heading off to the gym, as he entered the kitchen he saw his grandparents, his grandfather reading the newspaper while his grandmother was acting as "Gwana" again.

-"Good morning grandpa, good morning grandma" Arnold said entering the kitchen.

-"Hey short man" Phil said

-"Good morning Kimba" Gertie said.

-"So have you already picked a costume for your Halloween party short man" Phil asked.

-"I´m not sure yet grandpa, it is just I want something creative you know, something unique that nobody has seen but I just haven't figured out anything yet" Arnold answered.

"Oh well I´m sure you'll figure it out eventually short man but just in case you don't you know I'm always available for a fast trip to the costume store, except today cause I have to watch my soap and I can't miss it" Phil said as his wife settled down a plate of pancakes in front of him and other in front of Arnold.

-Arnold chuckled "Okay grandpa" Arnold said taking a bite of his pancakes.

-"Say weren't you supposed to be helping in the decorations for the party today?" Phil asked.

-"Yeah, actually I should be on my way right now" Arnold said taking a glance at the door.

-"Really and why is that, isn't it to early still Arnold?" Phil said.

-"Yeah I think so, but I promised Gerald I was going to be there earlier with him so we could finish sooner" Arnold answered.

-"Well you better hurry and finish your breakfast if you want to get there in time short man" Phil said smiling.

Arnold nodded and started eating his pancakes as fast as he could and in what seemed to be just like 9 minutes Arnold had already finished, Phil widened his eyes at this impressed by Arnold's eating.

-"Whoa-ho short man I guess that training for that eating contest did paid off huh" Phil said smirking.

-"Ugh, don´t even remind me about it, it still revolves my stomach just to think of it" Arnold said.

-"Well you know the saying, never eat raspberries!" Phil said.

-"I know grandpa" Arnold said smiling "anyways I have to get going"

-"Alright short man see ya after school" Phil said.

-"Goodbye kimba, have a fun day in the jungle and remember to bring an exciting specimen for good ol' Gwana to examine" Gertie said causing Arnold to giggle.

- Phil chuckled "you crazy old bird" he mumbled rolling his eyes.

-"Goodbye grandpa! Goodbye grandma!" Arnold said walking out the door.

Arnold was walking in a fast pace since he had to be fast but couldn't run since he knew that it would revolve his stomach since he had eaten too fast and he knew that if ran it was either throw up right there on the sidewalk or help in the school with his stomach made a complete mess, of course he probably looked dumb walking so fast but once he saw the YMAA gym he started walking in his normal smooth pace.

Just as Arnold was about to start ascending the steps he felt a sensation like someone was watching him, he narrowed his eyes and turned around to see that on the other side of the street was a boy gazing at him, the boy looked to be about the same age as Arnold, he had curly brown hair and his skin was lightly tanned and his eyes were light brown, he was wearing a buttoned green shirt, white pants and black cowboy boots. The boy was gazing at Arnold wide-eyed and with his mouth slightly opened as if he was shocked to see him.

Arnold didn't knew why but he had a feeling that he had seen that boy somewhere before, just as he was about to cross the street and walk over to the boy to ask him who he was Arnold heard someone calling him.

-"Hey Arnold!"

-"Huh" Arnold turned around to see that the one who had called him was his best friend Gerald who was standing in front of the gym's entrance and on the top of the stairs.

-"What took you so long man?" Gerald said as he descended the stairs and he and Arnold did their "secret" handshake.

-"Sorry Gerald it's just that there was a boy watching me and-" Arnold didn't finish his sentence cause when he turned around the boy wasn't there anymore.

-"What boy man, I don´t see anyone there" Gerald said.

-"But, I could swear I-" Arnold shook his head and sighed "I guess I'm just seeing things".

-"Mmm, mm, mm, first you arrive late and now you're seeing imaginary guys, Arnold my man I can swear you're going to lose your mind someday" Gerald said smiling and shaking his head slowly.

-Arnold chuckled "maybe".

-"Anyways what took you so long man, I thought we agreed we were gonna meet here early" Gerald said putting his hands on his hips.

-"Sorry Gerald I think I didn't set my alarm clock at the right hour has someone gotten here already" Arnold said.

-"Luckily no man just Rhonda and Nadine but aside from them it's just the two of us" Gerald confirmed.

-"Alright then let's go in and get started" Arnold said.

-"Alright man" Gerald said.

Just as they were ascending the steps Arnold turned around once more and looked at the spot where the boy was and look at it suspiciously.

-"_Who was he… and why did I felt like I knew him from somewhere_"Arnold thought.

-"Hey Arnold! You coming or what man" Gerald called.

Arnold pushed his thoughts aside and looked at Gerald.

-"Yeah, yeah I'm there" Arnold said ascending the stairs and walking into the gym with Gerald.

…

Once Arnold and Gerald entered the gym they got right down to business, Rhonda told them they were gonna be decorating and setting up the scenario along with Harold, Stinky and Sid but since they hadn't got there yet Arnold and Gerald started working alone.

Right now they were hanging up just above the scenario a big black placard that said "HAPPY HALLOWEEN" in bright orange letters. Gerald was on the top of the ladder putting tape to the placard to paste it to the wall while Arnold was holding the ladder from the bottom of it so it wouldn't fall.

-"Arnold! Pass me more duct tape will ya!" Gerald said from the top of the ladder.

-"Alright" Arnold grabbed the tape and got up in the ladder a little to hand it to Gerald.

Back on the floor Arnold was still thinking about that boy that he saw earlier, he couldn't help but ask himself why he kept feeling that he knew that boy and why was the boy looking at him as if he was shocked to see him, Arnold shook his head and decided to leave those thoughts alone for the day.

* * *

Later that day, more students of the class started arriving, soon almost all of the class was in the gym and they were all doing their respective jobs, Arnold and Gerald along with Harold, Stinky and Sid were setting up the lights on the scenario, they were almost finished with their job since Arnold and Gerald had started early, Lorenzo and Park were setting up a Disco ball, Eugene and Sheena were putting decorations of skeletons, little haunted houses, fake tombstones and the such and Curly and Lila were hanging little fake bats on the walls (with Curly sometimes using them to hang from one to other as if he was some kind of monkey), but Arnold felt like there was still something missing so he looked around, to him everything was good until it popped up in his head. He hadn't seen Helga or Phoebe in the gym all day.

As he was finished setting up a spotlight Arnold walked up to Gerald passing Harold and Sid who were struggling desperately trying to keep one of the spotlights steady, and he could hear them arguing over it.

-"JUST GIVE IT UP HAROLD, YOU KNOW WE NEED THE OTHERS' HELP" Sid said through gritted teeth.

-Harold just continued struggling with the spotlight and said "NO, I WON'T BE DEFEATED BY A STUPID SPOTLIGHT"

-Sid grumbled "C'MON HAROLD, WE CAN'T DO THIS ALONE" he said, sweat trickling down his face

-Harold glared at him "YES WE CAN AND IF YOU LEAVE ME I'LL POUND YOU AFTER WERE DONE" Harold shouted.

Sid just grumbled again and continued struggling against the spotlight.

Arnold chuckled to himself after hearing this and just continued walking on the platform until he reached Gerald.

-"Hey Gerald, have you seen Helga and Phoebe" Arnold asked.

-"Hmm, now that you mention it I haven't" Gerald answered looking around the gym.

-"Weird don't you think?" Arnold said.

-"Yeah, even more weird cause Phoebe told me over the phone last night that she and Helga were going to be here 'punctually'" Gerald said.

-"Oh well then- wait… since when do you and Phoebe call eachother?" Arnold asked with a knowing smile.

-Gerald heard the question and blushed a little "Umm… well… She called me to ask me if I was gonna be here" he said rubbing the back of his neck.

-"Suuuure" Arnold said smiling and looking away.

-"What?" Gerald asked after hearing Arnold's tone of voice.

-"Oh nothing" Arnold said and looked away.

-"Hey man, I know what you're thinking and you know it's not true, she and I are just friends" Gerald said.

-"Gerald I am your best friend and you may think it, but you can't fool me, I know you 'like her like her'" Arnold said smiling.

-"Hey c'mon man w-what makes you think that" Gerald said with a nervous smile.

-"C'mon Gerald it's pretty much obvious that you two like each other and besides I've seen signs" Arnold said.

-"What ´signs´? " Gerald asked.

-"Gerald I've seen the way you two act towards each other, I saw she had ´that look 'after your solo at the spring recital and I also saw you two walking out of the cheese festival last year together and grabbing each other's hands" Arnold stated.

-"Alright man listen, about the spring recital I guess she was just impressed an about the cheese festival well we _were_ holding hands but just as friends okay" Gerald answered

-"C'mon Gerald since when do boys and girls hold hands 'just as friends' and in the recital everyone was impressed by your solo but I didn't see anyone giving you that look that Phoebe gave you" Arnold stated.

-"Well…" Gerald said looking away

-"It´s okay you can tell it to me, It's not like I'm gonna laugh at you or anything" Arnold assured him.

-"Really?" Gerald said looking at him.

-"Really" Arnold assured.

-Gerald sighed and closed his eyes "Okay, fine I like-like Phoebe you happy now Arnold?" he threw his hands in the air "I said it".

-Arnold gave him a half-lidded smile and put his hand on Gerald's shoulder "See, was that so hard?" Arnold said.

-"Well at least I feel better, like a weigh was lifted off my shoulders" Gerald breathed a sigh of relief "thanks man".

-"Hey anytime Gerald" Arnold said smiling "But why haven't you told her yet?".

-"Well… I'm nervous you know" Gerald said.

-"I understand Gerald, asking a girl to be your girlfriend is always a hard thing to do for a boy, but you know what they say 'you never know till you try'" Arnold said.

-Gerald sighed "Yeah I guess so".

-"But hey who said you have to tell her now?" Arnold said.

-"Huh?" Gerald asked in confusion.

-"You don't have to tell her now if you don't want to, you can still wait I mean you've got plenty of time for it" Arnold stated.

-Gerald smiled at him "you're right man, but I'll still keep on trying you know ´the sooner the better'" Gerald said "thanks, man".

-"Anytime, Gerald" Arnold said twiddling thumbs with his best friend.

-"Seriously man, sometimes I think you have some sort of psychologist power or something" Gerald said sarcastically.

-Arnold laughed "really?"

-"Yeah, maybe you should go and get a part-time job with that other psychologist that went to visit us a while ago, what was her name again? hmm… Dr. Bliss?" Gerald said scratching his chin.

-"Well, maybe I will" Arnold replied sarcastically.

-"Arnold! Could you come down here for a minute?"

The one who had called him was his teacher Mr. Simmons who was now teaching the 5th grade class by petition of the school. Arnold nodded with his head and went down the stairs of the platform and was greeted by Mr. Simmons.

-"What can I help you with Mr. Simmons?" Arnold asked.

-"Well you see Arnold, Rhonda has been getting a little worried about the posters for the dance since Helga and Phoebe were supposed to bring them but they haven't arrived so I was wondering if you could go over to Helga's or Phoebe's house to see if they are on their way" Mr. Simmons asked.

-"Uhh… well I guess I could Mr. Simmons but I still gotta help on the scenario because we're not done yet" Arnold said.

-"Don't worry Arnold I decided to give you and Gerald the rest of the day off" Mr. Simmons said.

-"Really? Why?" Arnold asked

-"Cause Rhonda told me that you two have been working all morning so I think you deserve some rest because tomorrow we're going to continue and I don't want you two pressuring yourselves" Mr. Simmons said

-"Thanks Mr. Simmons but it's okay we're not tired yet" Arnold answered.

-"No, really Arnold I really think you and Gerald should go home and rest , you have been working really hard and you deserve it, besides…" Mr. Simmons said

Arnold just stood there waiting for the sentence.

-"How can I treat the two special heroes the saved the neighborhood like that!" Mr. Simmons exclaimed.

Arnold just smiled and rolled his eyes.

-"So you go home and rest now, you're gonna need all your strength tomorrow and don't worry about Gerald I'll tell him in a minute" Mr. Simmons said

-Arnold sighed "Okay Mr. Simmons"

-"Oh and Arnold please don't forget about passing through Helga's or Phoebe's house before Rhonda goes hysterical" Mr. Simmons said.

-"Alright Mr. Simmons" Arnold said.

-"See you tomorrow Arnold", "Gerald! Could you come down here for a minute?!" Mr. Simmons called.

Arnold walked out of the gym and started his way over to Helga's house, it wasn't too late yet, it was around 4:20 p.m. and the sky was clear and the sun was bright, the wind sending a cool and relaxing breeze through Arnold's body, right now Arnold was gonna start thinking about that boy he saw earlier but just shook those thoughts aside and started thinking about what kind of costume he was going to be wearing at the party when suddenly just as he turned around the corner he bumped into someone and fell back to the ground, when Arnold lifted his head he saw the person he had bumped into… or more like the _girl _he had bumped into.

None other than Helga G. Pataki.

He saw that beside her was Phoebe who was holding 2 rolls of paper of what seemed to be posters under her arms. He also saw that lying beside Helga were two other posters that had probably fallen when they bumped into each other.

-"Sorry Helga, Phoebe" Arnold said standing up and offering Helga his hand.

-"Arnold!" Helga shook her head "I-I mean, watch we're you're going football head, look at the mess you caused" Helga said scowling.

-"Sorry Helga, Hi Phoebe" Arnold said.

-"Good afternoon Arnold" Phoebe said.

-"Anyways, What has been taking you two so long, we haven't seen you in the gym all day and we we're all supposed to be there by morning to help" Arnold said.

-"We know Arnoldo, we we're just working on these dumb posters the princess asked us to do! And shouldn't you be there too?" Helga said.

-"Yeah but Mr. Simmons gave me and Gerald the rest of the day off and sent me to look for you two" Arnold said.

-"Oh really, well we don't need a guide to take us there, we're fast" Helga affirmed.

-"Well you better get there fast, Rhonda is really worried for the posters and is probably going hysterical right now" Arnold told them.

-"Yeesh everyone seems to be in a hurry nowadays, anyway c'mon Pheebs let's bring this to the princess and get it over with" Helga said.

-"Coming!" Phoebe said.

-"Do you want me to walk you two?" Arnold offered.

-"We know our way hair boy! We're not stupid!" Helga scowled at him.

-Phoebe rolled her eyes "it's okay Arnold we'll be fine on our own" Phoebe assured.

-Arnold shrugged "okay then see ya later".

Arnold took one last glance at the girls walking away and gave an internal sigh.

-"_I hope I can get to meet the real Helga someday… someday" _Arnold thought.

And with this Arnold went on his way back to the boarding house…

* * *

Once he reached the boarding house Arnold went up to his room and turned on his computer to start an audio lesson of Spanish language, ever since he found his father's journal Arnold had been improving his Spanish, he knew quite a lot of it but he wouldn't call himself an expert, also he had been learning a bit of French ever since that date on Valentine's day with the mysterious girl that had pretended to be his French pen-pal Cecile, he sometimes wondered if he would see her again but that's what inspired him to start learning French although his skills in that language aren't as good as his Spanish ones he knew the basics.

Once he was finished with his Spanish lesson Arnold opened a designing program he had downloaded to design himself a costume for Halloween, Arnold started thinking hard on it, it had to be something original, something nobody has seen but, _what_ could it be?

-"_There's got to be something" _Arnold thought.

Just as he was thinking this Arnold took a glance at the corner of his desk and saw the journal, suddenly he started grinning as an idea came to his mind but just as he was about to start designing he heard a tap but it didn't hear as tap on a door but more like a tap on a window he turned around and looked through his skylight and he could swear he saw a glimpse of a person there, he narrowed his eyes.

-"_Better go check it out"_ Arnold thought to himself.

He got up from his chair and ascended the stairs on his wall that lead to his roof, Arnold remembered his karate skills just in case he needed them, he had been training karate once again, he had learned that martial arts are used only for self-defense and not only for selfish purposes and now he only used his karate skills when it was really necessary.

Arnold exited his skylight and walked onto the roof, his emerald green eyes scanning through it to find any suspicious thing or any trace of strangers being there, suddenly he felt a sensation on his back, like the sensation of someone approaching, this was confirmed by the light sound of quiet footsteps that couldn't pass unadverted from Arnold.

-"And you are?" Arnold said quickly turning around to see the stranger which he discovered to be a woman.

Arnold took a step away from her and studied her for a minute; she looked to be around her late 30´s, her long brown hair in a soft wave reached her lower back, she had light brown eyes that if someone looked closely at them they looked to be golden, her skin was tanned and her feminine curves were too noticable under her clothes.

She was wearing a yellow tank top with a white skirt that made it to her knees and on her feet were a pair of black high-heels.

She was looking at Arnold in what seemed to be a shocked expression and for a moment he could've sworn he saw a tear form in the corner of her right eye, and then a smile started to form on her lips, and for some odd reason Arnold felt like he had seen her somewhere before just like with the boy from earlier.

-"Por Dios" the woman said in a really quite voice "You're so grown" She said in the same quite voice and her accent sounded Spanish.

-"Um, excuse me?" Arnold said not really knowing what to say.

This seemed to have snapped the woman out of it as she shook her head and looked at Arnold.

-"Sorry for that, you probably have lots of questions right?" the woman said.

-"Well, yeah, like for starters who are-"

-"And I´ll answer them" She interrupted him "but first I need to know something, ¿Are you Arnold Crystal? The woman asked him.

But of course she knew it was him, that oblong-shaped head, his wacky long golden hair, those beautiful shining emerald eyes, of course it would be him, but she needed to be sure.

-"Uhh… yeah that's me, why do you ask" Arnold said in confusion.

-"I need you to come with me" the woman said all of sudden.

-"What?!" Arnold asked not sure if he heard right.

-"You have to come with me, it's of great importance" the woman told him.

-"Whoa, whoa, whoa, look I understand you saying it's important but I don't feel exactly safe getting on a car with a stranger" Arnold protested.

-"Listen Arnold I know you don't know me but you can trust me, I'm not here to harm you, I'm here because I need to tell you something really important but you have to come with me" the woman insisted.

-"Look lady I don't know what you want to tell me but if I have learned something important from life is that strangers are not always what they seem so I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where we are going" Arnold protested again.

-"Please Arnold you need to come with me, what do I have to do for you to believe me?" the woman asked.

-"Well, you said I could trust you, right? Arnold asked.

-"Right" the woman confirmed

-"Then trust me and tell me who are you and where do you come from cause judging by your accent you certainly aren't from around here are you?" Arnold said.

-The woman sighed "okay I'll tell you what you want to know".

-"Then I'm all ears" Arnold said.

-"My name is Mariana Galvan" the woman now known as ´Mariana´ answered.

-"I'm 38 years old" Mariana said.

Arnold nodded

-"And…" she sighed "I came from San Lorenzo".

* * *

**Oooh! Cliffhanger, who is Mariana? And why is she looking for Arnold? And who is the boy that Arnold saw in the morning? And what does Mariana want to tell Arnold? Lots of questions that will be on the next chapter! Stay tuned! See ya!**


	3. Starting the road

**Alright so this chapter will start the REAL story and also we're gonna learn more about who Mariana really is so I hope you enjoy it!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Hey Arnold! It belongs to Craig Barlett.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Starting the road.**

Arnold widened his eyes in shock after having heard what Mariana had just said.

-"_From San Lorenzo" _Arnold thought in disbelief.

Arnold putted a hand on his forehead and went to sit on the edge of his roof frequently running a hand through his hair still trying to process what she had told him.

Mariana sees this and goes over to where Arnold is and kneeled beside him putting her left arm around his shoulders and her other hand on his right arm.

-"Are you okay honey?" Mariana asked him in concern.

Arnold lifted his head a little to look at her a little bewildered, not only for the fact that she seemed like she was comforting him but also for the fact that she had called him 'honey' as if she was his mother or his aunt but he didn't gave this too much thought and just nodded.

-"Yeah I´m fine" Arnold affirmed "it's just… I don't understand, why did you came looking for me, and who sent you here?".

-"Like I said Arnold if you want answers you have to come with me" Mariana told him.

-"But where do you want to take me" Arnold asked her again.

-"You'll see once we are in the car now come" Mariana said.

-Arnold sighed "Okay I´ll go with you, just let me tell grandpa and grandma that I'm-"just as he was turning around Arnold was interrupted by Mariana who put a hand on his shoulder as if to stop him.

-"No Arnold, you can't tell them" Mariana told him.

-"What?" Arnold asked.

-"You can't tell them about this" Mariana told him.

-"But… Why not?" Arnold asked a little concerned.

-"I'm sorry Arnold but if they knew about this they would want to get involved and you're the _only_ onethat I can trust to participate in this" Mariana said.

-"But why?" Arnold insisted.

-"Arnold just trust me on this okay, I promise you it's nothing bad, you might actually like this" Mariana said. "_And I'm sure you'll like this a lot more than you think"_ she thought smirking.

-"Okay, so let's just say I can't tell my grandparents, then what will happen, if I'm not home by dark they might think something happened to me and they'll start getting worried" Arnold said.

-"Well why should they? I thought that for someone as mature as you they wouldn't be worried" Mariana said.

-Arnold just looked a little bit upward thinking to himself "_not since the night on the subway" _remembering the night he along with Gerald, Helga, Phoebe and Harold had been trapped on the subway train along with some other people until they were all rescued by Arnold's grandmother.

-"Look honey we won't take long I promise, if we get going by now then you'll probably be home before dark, so what do you say?" Mariana said.

-Arnold sighed "Okay I'll go with you" Arnold finally agreed but he was still a little taken aback by how she had called him 'honey' again.

- Mariana smiled "Okay then, follow me".

Together Mariana and Arnold went down on the firescape ladder that was beside Arnold's bedroom window and made it to the ground, after this Arnold followed Mariana down the street until they turned around a corner where Arnold saw a modern black Ford car, Mariana went to the driver's door and unlocked the doors of the car, Mariana got in and Arnold climbed into the passenger seat, Mariana started the car and they drove off into the city…

* * *

The car ride had been quiet… _really _quite in Arnold's opinion, he really wanted to ask her how she knew him and what was so important that she wanted to tell him, he couldn't help but think back the boy that he had seen earlier that day, could that boy and Mariana have some sort of connection? Arnold didn't know but he was hoping he would find out, on another thought Arnold was asking himself again and again why would she want to see him and who would send someone from San Lorenzo to tell him something, Arnold widened his eyes a little as a thought suddenly stroked on his mind, what if she had been sent by **them? **But**…** It couldn't be… could it?

Arnold looked at Mariana without her noticing since she was too focused on driving, he shook his head and just decided to leave the questioning for later knowing that Mariana wouldn't give him any answers right now so he just leaned back in his seat and looked out the window with his chin on his hand he just sat there enjoying the ride.

After a good 21 minutes Mariana and Arnold arrived to a hotel, the hotel building was big and the hotel itself looked to be a five star hotel, Arnold wondered why Mariana would take him to such a fancy-looking place, they went inside and Mariana talked to the receptionist who gave her a key that said 210, Arnold thought that may have been her room. As soon as she got the key Mariana went into an elevator and motioned Arnold to go in with her, Arnold did as she said and Mariana pushed the button that said '7' indicating it to go to the 7th floor.

The elevator ascended seven floors before it reached it's destination Mariana and Arnold got out of the elevator and Arnold followed Mariana to her room… or more like _suite, _when they got there Arnold almost had his jaw falling, the suite was big and fancy, with well-constructed walls, a kitchen, a living room, 2 bedrooms with their own bathrooms, a TV on the kitchen, in the end a pretty amazing suite, Mariana set her keys down on a table and walked up to Arnold.

-"Okay Arnold listen, this is going to be a little bit of a long story so why don't you come with me into the living room and make yourself comfortable" Mariana suggested.

-"Okay, thanks" Arnold said.

Arnold sat down on the comfortable couch and Mariana did the same sitting beside him.

-"Alright Arnold, now I need you to listen carefully cause' you will be really interested in hearing this" Mariana told him.

-"Sure" Arnold said.

-"Okay I already told you who I am" Mariana said "now I'm going to tell you why I'm here and why I came looking for you".

-"Okay" Arnold affirmed and couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

-"Alright, you see the reason why I'm here is because I came to recover something that's of great importance to all of the country of San Lorenzo" Mariana told him.

Arnold nodded.

-"What I came looking for is known as 'the crystal core'".

-"Wait a minute… you said ´the crystal core'? Arnold asked.

-"Yes, you've heard about it?" Mariana asked raising her eyebrows.

-"Well, I saw it on an exhibition of antique reliques on the museum, me and my class went to visit there last week" Arnold told her.

-"And that's where you saw it" Mariana asked.

-"Yes but, why are you saying that you have to 'recover' it" Arnold said.

-"You see Arnold, that core was stolen from the depths of the jungle of San Lorenzo, and it's of great importance for a group of people that live in there that it goes back, I learned from a friend I have in here that it was bought by an archeologist here to use it as an exhibit" Mariana told him.

-"So you're here to recover it and return it to San Lorenzo" Arnold confirmed.

-"That's right" Mariana said.

-"Okay I understand, but why do you need me for it?" Arnold asked.

-"Listen Arnold…" She sighed "the reason why I came looking for you was because I need you to help me"

-"But why me?" Arnold asked.

-Mariana digs for something in her pocket and when she found it she showed it to Arnold revealing that it was a photo "I believe you know these persons".

Arnold looked at the picture; it looked to have been of no more than 2 or 3 years, in it was man with golden blonde messy hair, the same emerald green eyes as Arnold and his face seemed to be almost a young version of Arnold's grandpa, he was sited in a chair with a bandage around his arm and seemed to be laughing, he was being hugged from behind by a woman who had her arms around his neck, she had long brown brunette hair that reached to her middle-back and had blue cerulean eyes but what caught most of Arnold's attention… was her round-shaped head, she was smiling at the camera.

Arnold widened his eyes and he gasped in shock, he immediately recognized the people in the picture, they were his parents, Miles and Stella.

-"…My parents" he whispered.

-Mariana smiled at him "so you do recognize them" She asked him.

- Arnold nodded with his head and looked at her "why do you have a picture of them? And what do they have to do with all of this?" he asked her.

-"You see Arnold, they were the ones that sent me here to recover the crystal and they also sent me to look for you" Mariana told him.

-"Wait a minute, _they _were the ones that sent you here" Arnold asked in astonishment.

-Mariana nodded "Yes" she answered him.

-"So… they're alive?" Arnold asked with a smile on his face, his green eyes sparkling.

-"Yes, they're alive" Mariana answered them with a smile on her face.

Arnold smiled widely and he couldn't believe what he had just heard, he reclined against the couch closing his eyes in bliss still wearing that smile on his face more relaxed and relieved than he had ever been in his entire life. Suddenly Arnold opened his eyes as realization hit him once more.

-"Wait, how do you know my parents?" Arnold asked.

-"I know them because I've been accompanying them on all their adventures ever since they returned to San Lorenzo, you could say they're my best friends" Mariana told him smiling.

-"Really? Could you tell me about their adventures?" Arnold asked.

-"Sure honey" Mariana said.

The rest of the afternoon Mariana and Arnold had been talking and laughing non-stop about her adventures with Miles and Stella, about the villages they had helped, the medicines they had made, some of Miles' misfortunes at some of their adventures (which Arnold couldn't stop laughing about) and millions of things, suddenly Arnold started asking the questions he had been wanting to be answered for years.

-"Where are they? What happened to them? Why didn't they came back?" Arnold asked her all of a sudden

-"Whoa, whoa hold on there honey, go easy" Mariana told him.

-"Sorry I'm just so excited, I haven't heard from them since I was one and I've got millions of questions" Arnold said calming himself.

-"And they'll all be answered but not right now" Mariana said.

-"Why not?" Arnold said.

-"Because I know someone who can answer to you those questions better than I can" Mariana told him.

-"Really? Who?" Arnold asked.

-"His name is Eduardo" Mariana said.

-Arnold's eyes widened as they he heard that name "Eduardo? As in Eduardo the friend of my parents?" He asked.

-"Ahh, so you've heard about him" Mariana smirked.

-"Yes but, do you know him?" Arnold asked.

-"Of course I know him, he's my husband" Mariana told him.

-Arnold raised his eyebrows a little "you're husband?" he said smirking.

-"Yes, we met when he was accompanying your parents on one of their adventures, they were passing through my camp but stopped to gather some supplies and that's when I found him, we ended up spending a lot of time together and we fell in love with eachother" Mariana said remembering all those romantic times she had with Eduardo.

-Arnold nodded listening to her story.

-"We got married just one month after your parents' wedding" Mariana told Arnold.

-"Wow, really? And where is he now?" Arnold said looking around.

-"He isn't here right now Arnold but you can talk to him tomorrow" Mariana told him.

-"Oh" he said with a little bit of disappointment, he sighed and said "Okay, at what time do you want me here tomorrow"

-"Umm, well Arnold we're not going to talk here tomorrow" Mariana said.

-"And we're do you want to see me exactly?" Arnold asked.

-Mariana stood up from the couch "follow me" she told him.

Arnold stood up from the couch and followed Mariana into one of the bedrooms, just as they entered Mariana started writing something on a paper and Arnold just glanced around the room, the room had a king-size bed and the walls and floor were painted in white, it also had two night tables on each side of the bed, each of them with a lamp but then something caught his attention, it was a white folder that seemed to be a photo album that was sitting on one of the tables, he opened it and the first picture he saw was of Eduardo and Mariana at Miles and Stella's wedding, they were sitting on one of the tables laughing and having a good time, he turned the page and saw another picture of them this time dancing.

Arnold skipped some pages and saw a picture of his parents with Eduardo and Mariana, they were all in the jungle each pair hugging with the sunset on the background, Arnold smiled at that one, he skipped some pages and he saw a picture of Eduardo and Mariana's wedding, unlike Miles and Stella's wedding this time was at the beach Eduardo and Mariana both were at the altar grabbing each other's hands smiling lovingly at each other with the sunset washing over them, Arnold's parents were also present, Miles as the best man and Stella as the maid of honor, Arnold skipped some pages again and then his smile became more of a sad smile, the picture he was now seeing was of his parents with his baby self in the hut they used to live in, Miles was tickling him on the belly while Stella was cradling him in her arms and smiling at him while baby Arnold was giggling happily because of his father's tickles.

Arnold smiled sadly at the photo and ran a hand through it, he turned the page around and was surprised by what he saw, the picture he saw was of Mariana and him when he was still a baby, she was cuddling him in her arms while feeding him some milk from a bottle, she was smiling at him while baby Arnold just drank his milk, Arnold then realized why he felt like he had seen her before and why she kept on calling him 'honey', she must've taken care of him sometimes and he must've remembered her but couldn't realize _who_ she was, just as Arnold was about to turn the page he heard Mariana calling him.

-"Arnold?" she said.

-"Huh? Oh, sorry I think was lost in thought" Arnold said.

-Mariana saw what he was holding and smiled at him "I see you found my memories album" she told him.

-"umm, shouldn't it be ´photo album'" Arnold asked.

-She giggled "yes, but I like to call it 'memories album'" she sighed "you know those pictures mean more to me than just some photos" Mariana told him.

-"Oh, okay then maybe you won't mind explaining me what is this photo" he showed her the photo where she is cuddling his baby self.

-Mariana looks at it and smiles "that was one of the first pictures I had with you" she told him.

-"So you saw me when I was baby" Arnold said.

-"Yes I used to take care of you when your parents were too busy working on the village" Mariana said.

-"Really" Arnold said smiling.

-"Yes, you were like a nephew to me" Mariana smiled at him.

-"Wow, so many things I didn't know" Arnold said.

-"Anyway, Arnold I need you to meet us at this address tomorrow at 5:00, Eduardo and I will be there" Mariana told him.

Nodding, Arnold looked at the address on the paper, after reading it he recognized it as the address of Bridget's headquarters, the woman who had provided him and Gerald with gadgets to save the neighborhood.

-"_What does Bridget has to do with all of this?" _Arnold thought.

Arnold was about to ask how they knew Bridget but he didn't want to get into another conversation since it was getting darkand he had to make it back to the boarding house in time.

-"Okay I'll be there" Arnold assured her.

-"Alright now what do you say if we get you back to your house, I think you could use some rest" Mariana told him.

-"Okay" Arnold agreed, he then realized that he hadn't give her back the photo of his parents and even though he wanted to keep it he knew it wasn't his "Oh, here, sorry I forgot I had it" he said.

-"Keep it" Mariana told him.

-"Huh?" Arnold asked taken aback.

-"Keep it, i thought it might do you good to have a picture of them" Mariana told him.

-"Really?" Arnold said.

-"Yes, it is a gift to you Arnold" Mariana said smiling.

-"Thanks umm… Ms. Mariana?" Arnold said not really knowing how to call her.

-Mariana chuckled "you can call Aunt Mary if you want Arnold" She told him.

-"Okay, then, thanks Aunt Mary" Arnold said.

-"Okay now let's get you back honey" Mariana said.

After this Mariana and Arnold exited the suite, took the elevator to the first floor, went to the parking, hopped on Mariana's car and left the hotel.

* * *

When they arrived at the Sunset Arms Arnold exited the car and thanked Mariana once again for giving him the photo and for all the answers she had given him, but then just before he was about to enter the house Mariana called him.

-"Arnold!" She called him from the car.

-"Yeah?" Arnold said turning around.

-"Don't forget tomorrow at 5:00, and don't make any other arrangements" Mariana reminded him.

-"Don't worry I won't forget" Arnold assured her.

-"Okay then, see ya tomorrow honey" Mariana said.

-"See ya Aunt Mary" Arnold said.

And with this she drove off, Arnold watched the car until it was completely out of sight, then he opened the door letting out the parade of animals and went upstairs, when he reached the second floor he started walking down the hall directly to his room his only purpose to enter, lay down on his bed and think calmly about all that Mariana had told him, but while walking down the hall he heard his grandpa call him from his and grandma's room.

-"Arnold, is that you?" Phil asked.

-"Yeah, it's me grandpa" Arnold answered.

-Phil came out of his bedroom "well there you are, I thought you had gone on to save some other poor neighborhood"

-"Grandpa" Arnold said with a playful annoyed look.

-"Oh, ho, ho okay short man I'm only joking but where have you been, I haven't seen you all afternoon" Phil told him.

-Suddenly Mariana's voice resonated in Arnold's mind "_You can't tell them, they might want to get involved" _Arnold knew he couldn't know, "_I can't tell him, I promised Aunt Mary_".

-Arnold quickly thought of some excuse "I was… with Gerald grandpa, he wanted me to help him pick his costume for the Halloween party" Arnold said.

-"Oh, okay Arnold but next time tell me, I was about to go looking for you myself" Phil said.

-"Sorry grandpa" Arnold apologized.

-"Well anything else that you wanna share with your ol' grandpa" Phil said smiling.

-"_You have no idea" _Arnold thought "No, not really grandpa"

anyway I think I'm gonna go to my room and start working on my… homework" Arnold told him.

-"Really? But I thought you said you had no classes tomorrow" Phil said a little confused.

-"Um, yeah but you know what they say 'the sooner the better'" Arnold said.

-"Oh well, of you need me short man I'll be in the office, you're grandma made raspberry cookies again, ohhh I better get there fast" Phil said holding his stomach.

-"Okay thanks grandpa" Arnold said going to his room.

Just the moment he left Phil started running in a mad dash right to the bathroom, Arnold pulled down his stairs, went up and entered his room, just as he entered it, he closed the door behind him and pressed his back against it, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh, he stood up and went to his drawer and got out his dad's journal, he held it in his hand and took it with him up to his roof and once he was there he looked up at the moon.

-"_Could this be a sign" _Arnold thought "_Could they be here to take me to them"_.

Arnold was just looking at the moon wondering if his destiny had finally called to him to finally take him to San Lorenzo and to the only thing he's ever wanted the most… his parents.

-"_Is it my time to go with them?" _He thought.

And with that last thought, Arnold just stood there on the edge of the roof of his house, he sighed and closed his eyes knowing that a _very _long day awaited him tomorrow; he opened his eyes again to look at the moon completely unaware of the blonde pink-clad girl who stood on the street below watching completely captivated how her beloved was surrounded by the beautiful moon light.

* * *

**Author's notes: **Alright so this chapter came out a bit longer than I intended it to be but well I guess I can't control my writing ;) anyway, look out for next chapter cuz' where gonna be seeing Eduardo telling Arnold a few important things about his parents and the green eyes so don't miss it! See ya!


	4. A memory revisited

**Hey! Well here is the next chapter we're gonna be seeing the gang continuing their work for the party and also cause' I'm a good person I'm gonna put some arnoldxhelga in it so hope you enjoy it!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Hey Arnold! It belongs to Craig Barlett.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: A memory revisited.**

When Arnold woke up the next morning he realized he was still in his street clothes, he remembered last night, he had been staring at the moon for hours that seemed like minutes to him thinking about all that Mariana had told him that she came to do and also the revelation that she and Eduardo had been sent by his parents to recover an artifact known as 'the crystal core' but also that they had been sent to look for him, he had went into his room after having realized he lost track of time and lied down on his bed thinking about all this and he probably had fell asleep after having get lost in his thoughts, though he got more answers than the ones he bargained for, the things Mariana had told him still formed a lot more of questions on Arnold's mind, why would his parents sent her to look for him?, what is really the crystal core?, would his parents have sent them to take him with them to San Lorenzo?, right now the only thing he could do was wait for the afternoon to go over to Bridget's headquarters and find out more about what this whole thing really was.

On another thought Arnold was still thinking about that boy that had been staring at him weirdly yesterday morning just before he got to the YMAA gym, Arnold wondered why he was gazing at him like that, he looked as if he was shocked, as if he had found someone he'd been searching for a long time and also he had been thinking about that weird sensation he felt like he knew him from somewhere, he would've asked the boy what was going on but he had been stopped at the last minute by Gerald and to his bad luck when he turned around the boy wasn't there anymore, how did he disappeared so fast? He didn't know, but what he did know was that if he saw that strange boy again he was sure gonna ask him what he wanted.

Arnold stood up from his bed and glanced at his clock, noticing that it was 6:30 a.m. he decided to go grab a nice warm shower before heading down to grab a breakfast, he took some fresh clothes with him and went straight into the bathroom…

* * *

After having showered and dressed, Arnold finished his morning ritual by seeing that his hat was adjusted right on his head, he came out of the bathroom refreshed and ready for the day but before he headed out he took one quick last trip to his room to check on his little 'jungle' notebook, during the major part of October he had been doing research about central America, like it's countries, it's most recognized cities, it's different cultures, it's secret civilizations, but what he had been researching about the most had been San Lorenzo and the Green-eyed people, right now Arnold opened the notebook and wrote down in a free page as a title '_The crystal core' _which he told himself he would research about from now and on to find out more about it, he would've do it right now but he knew he didn't had that much time, he glanced at his clock it was 7:12 a.m. right now, he had to be at the gym by 8:00.

He closed his notebook and put it on the top of his book shelf, just by the side were a certain little pink book rests, Arnold smiled and chuckled when he saw the pink book, the pink book full of poems dedicated to him that belonged to none other than Helga, he already knew that the book belonged to her, Helga should've know that he'd already seen the last page, thinking back on it he remembered the exact moment he saw the last page.

When he was on his way to school he took out the book and started reading those poems, at first they seemed a bit scary to him though Arnold couldn't deny they were really passionate and profound for someone who was in elementary school, just then Arnold decided to jump to the last page and that's when he saw it… the firm of Helga's name.

To say that he had been shocked was little, at that right moment Arnold couldn't believe what he was seeing since that had been the first evidence that she liked him but instead back then Arnold wouldn't have went as far as to say that it was love, although those poems were really saying that it _was_ indeed love he wasn't sure just yet, but now….

Arnold just decided set those thoughts aside for the moment knowing that that right now he had other things to think about… things that were much more important to him right now.

He left his room and went downstairs, and when he made it to the first floor he entered the kitchen where he was greeted by his grandparents.

-"Good morning short man" Phil said.

-"Hiya Kimba" Gertie said.

-"Good morning grandpa, good morning grandma" Arnold greeted.

Arnold sat down on the table and started eating the pancakes that his grandma gave him.

-"Hey short man, did you choose what you wanna go dressed as to your party?" Phil said.

-"Well now that you mention it I did some thinking last night and… I think I know what costume I'm gonna do" Arnold confirmed.

-"Really? Well I guess that means I'm gonna have to pick my costume alone huh?" Phil said chuckling.

Arnold chuckled.

-"Well so what did you decided to go as anyway short man" Phil asked.

-"Well, I wanted to keep it a secret you know, so it would be a surprise" Arnold said.

"Awww, c'mon Arnold you know you can trust your ol' gramps, I ain't telling anyone" Phil assured him.

-"Really?" Arnold said raising his eyebrows.

-"Yeah, well maybe except for your grandma" Phil said.

-"Oh well then-"

-"And maybe one or two of the boarders" Phil said teasingly.

-"Grandpa" Arnold said in an annoyed tone.

-"Jijiji, just messin' with ya short man, but seriously Arnold I'm not gonna tell anyone" Phil assured.

-"Okay then, you really want to know? Arnold asked.

-"Well of course" Phil said impatiently.

-"Well I was planning on going as-""_Ring, Ring!" _Arnold was interrupted by the sound of the phone in the aisle.

-"Hmm, wonder who would be calling so early" Phil said as he out his newspaper down and stood up to go and answer the phone.

As Arnold watched his grandpa leave the kitchen he turned around to minding his own business again and finish his breakfast, as he was eating Arnold raised his sight from his pancakes a little to look at a part of the table that was duct taped so it wouldn't break in half, Arnold smiled a funny smile and chuckled a little remembering the incident where his grandpa had told him it had been Helga the one who broke it, his mind drifted off to the day he lived one of the most funny of Helga's incidents with him but also one of the evidences that confirmed to him her love… Her parrot.

_*FLASHBACK*_

_Arnold was entering his home after having a nice while with his best friend Gerald in the arcade and having taken a little walk around the neighborhood, right when he entered he went upstairs and walked down the aisle hearing the common rants form the boarders, Arnold just chuckled, even though the boarders may be weird and a little annoying at times he still loved them as if they were his own family, of course things could get a bit out of control at times but that was just what gave the fact of living in the Sunset Arms the strange sense of excitement it had in the football-headed boy's life._

_As he entered his room he was about to flop down on the couch when suddenly he heard an strange voice that sounded like the one of some kind of bird and it said "Arnold, my love" repeatedly, Arnold turned around and was surprised to find that in the top of the book shelf there was a parrot saying "Arnold, my love" again and again._

_He narrowed his eyes and went over to the top of the book shelf, there the parrot started talking again._

_-"Why must I hold you only whilst I dream" the parrot said._

_-"Huh?" Arnold said confused._

_Suddenly the parrot settled on the top of Arnold's head and started reciting a poem._

_-"Arnold, my love, my sultry preteen._

_Why must I hug only whilst I dream" the parrot said._

_-"What?!" Arnold said shocked by what the bird was saying._

_-"Will I be forever enslaved by your spell?_

_Why must I worship you and never ever tell" The parrot continued._

_-"What the" Arnold said setting the parrot on his right hand so he was looking at it to the face._

_-"Arnold, you make my girlhood tremble_

_My senses all go wacky_

_Someday I'll tell the world my love_

_Or my name's not…"_

_Arnold looked at the bird in awe and a little bit anxious for the revelation the parrot was going to do._

"…_Helga G. Pataki" the parrot concluded._

_Arnold widened his eyes and gasped in shock, his mouth fell slightly open and his mind went blank, he should've known he had been having his suspicions about Helga for a while now but he never really thought she was that deep and passionate about her feelings, she never seemed like it but then again she was Helga and she could seem to be a lot of things in front of the people's eyes but for some reason never her real self, was it because she was afraid? Was it because she didn't like her real self? Arnold didn't really know but what he did know was that this parrot had cleared his suspicions._

_Helga was in love with him._

_Arnold sat back on his couch and the parrot settled down beside him, he held his forehead in his hand before running it through his blonde hair with a blank look on his face still thinking about this, after some minutes of deep thinking he looked at the green furred parrot with a slight smile on his face._

_-"Well buddy, seems like you lifted a little weight off my shoulders" Arnold said petting the parrot on the head._

_-"Now the question is ¿what am I gonna do with you?" Arnold wondered aloud._

_Then the doorbell rang and he went downstairs to answer it, he looked through the window in the door and was surprised to see Helga standing there waiting for the door to be opened._

_-_"She must've come for the parrot" _Arnold though._

_With no other choice Arnold gave a small sigh and opened the door but before he had a chance to say anything Helga was already talking._

_-"Oh hi Arnoldo, don't get any ideas that I came to see _you_ or anything" Helga said with her arms crossed "I'm just going door-to-door looking for my par-" Helga was interrupted._

_-"Arnold, my love" the parrot said suddenly arriving at the scene and settling on the top of Arnold's head_

_Helga seemed to tense up at the sight of the parrot, she gasped a little and then laughed nervously, things that didn't go unnoticed by Arnold._

_-"_Not ready to accept it Helga? _Arnold thought and then asked innocently "what did you wanted to ask me Helga?"._

_-"Um, my par- pair of roller skates, you've seen them?" Helga asked somewhat nervously._

_-Arnold fought the urge to roll his eyes at her "_pair of roller skates? Really?, c'mon Helga, can't you make up a better excuse? _Arnold thought and gave an internal sigh _"Well, here we go I guess".

_*FLASHBACK END*_

After having remembered this Arnold giggled and decided to go back to his breakfast but then he looked at the clock, it was 7:40, he widened his eyes and realized that time went flying by him for having been lost in his thoughts, Arnold took one last bite of his pancakes and drank some more milk and rushed out the door.

* * *

While he was walking to the YMAA gym Arnold thought again on the whole parrot incident, he couldn't know how Helga could let escape a parrot that recited a poetry that would make a normal 10-year old boy swear never to fall in love for someone, then again Arnold thought that maybe he wasn't so normal since that poem didn't seem scary to him, not in the least, in fact to him, that poem was quite… flattering actually, and yet he still wondered if he did feel something for Helga or not, looking ahead he saw the YMAA gym and just decided to leave those thoughts for another day.

He crossed the street looking to both sides before crossing and after he had made it to the sidewalk, he was about to start ascending the steps when he felt that odd sensation that he felt yesterday, the sensation that someone was watching him, Arnold then had the feeling that it was the same boy from yesterday and turned around to see, but to his surprise the person that was watching him on the other side of the street was not a boy, but a girl.

The girl looked to be the same age as Arnold and she looked to be his same height too, she had brown hair that reached to her upper back, her skin was lightly tanned and her eyes were light brown and almost golden, she was wearing a light blue dress with a pair of silver colored flat heeled shoes on her feet, it could be that he was probably going crazy but if you asked him she looked to be like some kind of a female version of the boy from yesterday, the girl too was staring at Arnold with wide eyes but her mouth closed but you could see that it was as if she was shocked to see him, Arnold then felt the same strange sensation that he felt with the boy, he felt as if he had seen her before, somehow he seemed to recognize her face but he had definitely no idea and couldn't make out _who_ she was.

He narrowed his eyes and was about to cross the street and go to talk to her, and ask her who she was when suddenly…

-"Yo, man!" Somebody called.

-"Wha?!" Arnold said turning around.

When he turned around Arnold found his best friend Gerald poking his head out the door of the gym with a curious look on his face.

-"It's me Arnold, sorry if I scared ya'" Gerald said.

-"No, it's okay Gerald" Arnold said.

-"Well then, come on in man, everyone's already here, just you're the only one that hasn't arrived" Gerald told him.

-"Sorry, I just…" Arnold was going to say something but he suddenly remembered the girl that had been staring at him just now.

-"_Is she still there?" _Arnold wondered just as he was about to turn around but…

-"Something wrong man?" Gerald asked.

-"Huh, oh, no, I'm fine, really" Arnold said putting up a reassuring smile.

-"Are you sure?, you look a little gone man" Gerald said coming out the door of the gym and remaining on top of the stairs "c'mon Arnold, you know you can tell your best bud' right here anything".

-"Uh… well.. I…" Arnold said before finally looking over his shoulder to see if the strange girl was still there but, much to his dismay she was nowhere in sight.

-Arnold narrowed his green eyes and let out a frustrated sigh"_Not again"_ he thought feeling a little annoyed that the same thing happened again.

Arnold had been staring at the spot where the girl was with so much attention that he didn't noticed Gerald walking down the steps of the gym and going to his side.

-"You okay man?" Gerald said putting his right hand on his friend's shoulder and feeling a little concerned now.

-Despite hearing Gerald's question Arnold just continued staring at the spot across the street with narrowed eyes until he said "I…" he shook his head and sighed "I'm okay Gerald, really, I guess I'm just still a little tired, that's all" Arnold assured.

-"You sure, Arnold? You look out of yourself a little today" Gerald said.

-"Really, Gerald! I'm fine, no big deal" Arnold confirmed.

-"Alright, if you say so man" Gerald said raising his hands a little but not at all convinced.

-"Okay, now let's go in, we've got work to do" Arnold said walking straight to the gym.

-Gerald sighed "Whatever you say Arnold" he said as he alongside Arnold made their way up the stairs of the gym.

And with that the two best friends proceeded to enter the gym determined to finish their job but what they were unaware of was about the pair of light brown eyes watching them from behind the shadows of a building still in a shocked but also unreadable expression.

* * *

A while has passed and the decorations are almost done, the team of Arnold, Gerald, Harold, Sid and Stinky were already done with the scenario, the sound system was up and running, the spotlights were good and stable (although the same couldn't be said about the three poor kids who almost got their arms stretched to the end of their energy for all the struggle they had done against the spotlights) while Eugene and Sheena were just moping around the dance floor, Lorenzo, Park and Iggy were setting up a disco ball, Rhonda and Nadine "supervising" the process (more like just walking around giving orders) Curly and Lila setting up a few fake bats on the walls as well as some fake tombstones on the corners and Helga and Phoebe posting cardboards around the gym with designs of monsters, pumpkins, candies, candy bags or bats on them.

Having just finished their job Arnold and Gerald were just sitting on one of the chairs that were around the gym, just relaxing and chatting about the party on Friday night when Mr. Simmons came over to them…

-"Arnold, Gerald?" Mr. Simmons said interrupting their conversation.

-"Yes Mr. Simmons?" Arnold said.

-"Now boys I know that you're already done with your work and what you probably want right now is just to rest but I have a favor to ask of you" Mr. Simmons told them.

-"And what's that Mr. Simmons?" Arnold asked.

-"Well it seems Helga and Phoebe are a little bit of trouble pasting the posters on the walls and I was wondering if maybe you two could lend them a hand" Mr. Simmons said

-"Aw, man just as I was starting to feel good again" Gerald said.

-Arnold chuckled "It's okay Mr, Simmons we'll help" He said.

-"Um, well don't you think I can stay here just a little while longer Arnold?" Gerald said with a pleading smile.

-"Gerald…" Arnold said with a weary half-lidded look.

-"Okay, okay man I'm with you" Gerald said rising from his seat "_at least I tried" _he thought wearily.

-"Alright then we're ready Mr. Simmons" Arnold said.

-"Oh, thank you so much you two, I knew I could count on you special heroes" Mr. Simmons said rather gleefully.

After saying this Arnold just chuckled while Gerald just smiled proudly.

-"Hey Mr. Simmons you know that the '2 special heroes' are always here and ready for action" Gerald said jokingly and feigning a salute.

-"Alright then now go on and help your two classmates" Mr. Simmons said leaving but just as he left Gerald's expression changed from one of pride to one of disbelief.

-Gerald sighed "Well man seems we're gonna have a hard time for a while, huh?" he said rather wearily

-"Oh c'mon Gerald it's not gonna be that bad" Arnold reasoned.

-"Not that bad? Arnold we're gonna be working with Helga G. Pataki, the class bully, you remember?" Gerald told him.

-"Just try to look on the bright side Gerald, it's not gonna be a long while just a few minutes cause I think Helga and Phoebe are almost finished… and…" Arnold said before pausing.

-"And?" Gerald said raising an eyebrow.

-Arnold grinned "do I have to remind you that we're not gonna be helping _only_ Helga?" He said still grinning knowingly and raising his eyebrows.

-Gerald realized what he meant and blushed a little bit "oh… yeah, I forgot Phoebe was there too" he said rubbing the back of his neck.

-Arnold chuckled "c'mon Gerald let's go help them" he said gesturing to both the girls and starting to walk over to them.

Gerald noticing that Arnold was already walking ahead quickly rose up from his seat and catched up to Arnold, and so the two boys made their way over to the girls who were leaned against a wall chatting about Helga's morning and seemingly waiting for them, when they saw them approaching they stopped their conversation and got right back to work.

-"Well about time you two clowns showed up" Helga said.

-"Well, sorry Helga" Arnold said somewhat sarcastically. "we we're just-"

-"Yeah, yeah anyway we still have some work to do so get you're both slow butts up and start pasting" Helga told them pointing to the glue and the posters.

-"Nice to see you too Pataki" Gerald grumbled and rolled his eyes and then looked at Phoebe "hey Phoebe" he said smiling a little shyly but managing to keep his cool on.

-"H-hi Gerald" Phoebe said with both her hands clasped behind her back and looking aside shyly.

-Arnold seeing the interaction between Gerald and Phoebe smiled at them but decided to cut it short since they had to go to work (not to mention Arnold's plans that afternoon which he promised himself he wouldn't be a minute late) "uh… well guys I think we should really be getting started with this" he said.

-"Uh, yeah, right um… so" Gerald said taking his gaze away from Phoebe.

-"Alright here's what we're gonna do" Helga said getting in front of all of them "Me and Phoebs are gonna be pasting the posters here on this wall while you two take paste these ones on the other side of the gym" Helga said giving Arnold and Gerald the posters and glue (more like shoving it to them) and signaling them to the other side of the gym

Gerald opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Helga.

-"Any objection I hear from you two is gonna be answered by old betsy, got it?!" Helga said showing them her fist for emphasis. "And this specifically goes to _you _Football Head, now move it". Helga said poking Arnold's chest.

Arnold and Gerald just looked at each other wearily, grabbed their stuff and walked to the other side of the gym, as they were walking away Helga changed her scowling expression to one of sadness and started looking around until her eyes fell upon a dark corner behind a sound system in the scenario.

-"Um, Pheebs could you excuse for a minute?" Helga said.

-"Uh, sure Helga but I could really use-" Phoebe didn't even finish as Helga just thanked her and ran away.

When Helga got behind the sound system she got out of her dress a familiar golden locket with the picture of a certain football-headed boy in it and squeezed it tightly and lovingly as if she was actually squeezing the person of the picture that was in it.

-"Oh, Arnold, my love, my flaxen-haired angel" Helga cooed in a lovingly tone "How cruel I am everytime I see you, How savage I treat you whenever you are close to me, why must I be forever hidden in this shadow of misery, why must I force myself to wear this mask that does nothing more than to harm my feelings, oh, my beloved, how I hope that you one day would accept my heart and also that one day you shall give me yours, ohhh" Just as Helga finished she heard the familiar sound of wheezing behind her, she cracked her knuckles and the first thing she did was throw a punch right behind her which hit her stalker, Brainy, right in the face and yet another pair of glasses was broken.

* * *

Later on, Arnold, Helga, Gerald and Phoebe had just finished their jobs and were just sitting on some chairs trying to cool off a little and just relaxing, the decorations were almost done and all of the gym was looking really well for the party on Friday night, Arnold right now was talking with Gerald about what costumed they were going to wear for the party.

-"Well I'm gonna come as a disk jockey man, Jamie-O has an outfit of those and he's gonna borrow it to me" Gerald said

-"Wow, really? Well that's new, I thought you said Jamie-O doesn't borrow anything to you" Arnold said.

-"Yeah but I had to make a deal with him" Gerald said.

-"What deal?" Arnold asked.

-"He told me that in exchange for the costume I…" Gerald said.

-"You…" Arnold asked.

-"I have to babysit Timberly tomorrow night" Gerald answered.

-Arnold was surprised by this "You what?" he said snickering a little.

-"You heard me man, me Gerald Johansen is gonna be a babysitter tomorrow night" Gerald said with a little regret.

-"But I thought you said you hated babysitting Timberly" Arnold said.

-"I know man! But I had no other option I mean I'm totally out of ideas" Gerald said. "But by the way man, you haven't told me what _you're_ gonna wear".

-"Well… I'd like to tell you Gerald but it's just that I want it to be a surprise you know" Arnold said.

-"Awww, c'mon Arnold tell me! You know I'm not gonna blab about this to anyone, please?" Gerald pleaded.

-"I know you wouldn't tell anyone Gerald It's just that I want to surprise you too okay?" Arnold said.

-"C'mon man! I mean what difference does it make? I'm still gonna be surprised If you tell now, please man" Gerald said.

-Arnold sighed "Gerald…"

-"Pretty please, c'mon Arnold" Gerald pleaded.

-"Okay, fine" Arnold said. "You really want to know?" Arnold said looking at him.

-"Yes!" Gerald exclaimed.

-Arnold sighed "Okay then, I guess it wouldn't to tell one person anyway" he said. "Well I think I'm gonna come as a-"

Arnold was interrupted by Mr. Simmons who went on the scenario and started talking on the microphone.

-"Alright everyone, I know you've all been having a fun time here and that you probably want to stay a little longer and continue working and acting as a tribe, right" Mr. Simmons said enthusiastically while everyone just went silent and stared at him with half-lidded eyes.

-Mr. Simmons cleared his throat "But unfortunately it's already 4:30 p.m. which means that you're all free to go now".

And with this all of 5th graders inside the gym cheered and ran out of it, when Arnold reached the sidewalk he remembered that he had to be on his way to Bridget's headquarters right now to meet Eduardo and Mariana, still he couldn't figure out how Bridget fitted into all of this but he was sure gonna figure out once he got there, so with that Arnold was about to make his way there when suddenly…

-"Hey Arnold!" Sid called him.

-"Yeah guys?" Arnold said turning around.

-"We're gonna go to Gerald field and practice a little, you wanna come man?" Gerald offered.

-"Um, sorry guys but I can't" Arnold said.

-Gerald blinked surprised "What? But you're always in the mood for some baseball man" he said.

-"I know guys it is just that I have other… plans for today" Arnold said.

-"Well okay if you say so man" Gerald said and twiddled thumbs with Arnold, normally he would've asked where he was going but with everyone else already waiting for him he had no time for a little conversation right now

-"See ya tomorrow guys" Arnold said waving at them and walking on the other direction.

With this done, Arnold hailed a cab and told him to start making his way over to his next appointment, his destination: the city's docks.

* * *

**Author notes: **Hey guys! Been a little while since I've updated huh? Oh well I'm sorry for those of you who were expecting to see Arnold talking to Eduardo in this chapter but I'm still thinking on the talk session with him but I can tell you that he's gonna be on the next chapter and also I may add a little plot twist to it so stay tunned and see ya!

Also if you're wondering about the name of this chapter, it's because of Arnold remembering the day Helga's parrot appeared.


	5. Unexpected

**Hey there guys! Alright so in this chapter we're gonna be seeing the beginning of a kind of legend of San Lorenzo but the whole legend will be on the next chapter while this one will just be like the introduction to it and also there'll be a little surprise in it, so hope you enjoy it!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Hey Arnold! It belongs to Craig Barlett**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Unexpected **

As the green-eyed boy got off the cab he paid the driver for the ride though it was a bit expensive he had come prepared, after all he _had_ learned from his mistake back when he and Gerald had went to that 6th grade dance with those girls Connie and Maria ,once he made it to the city's docks, Arnold made his way over to Bridget's HQ, he could remember very well were it was located and even though it was a little bit hidden within the docks he still could remember it's way, once he found the entrance he remembered that the only way to enter was "ringing the doorbell" and by this I mean pushing the "do not touch" red button that would activate the net trap that would lift him to the entrance (like it did on the first movie), gazing at the button Arnold let out a sigh.

-"_Well, here it goes" _he thought.

Arnold exhaled and then went to push the button, bracing himself for the net trap that would be activated at any minute as he did but when he pushed the button the net trap wasn't activated, Arnold just opened his green eyes and looked around but nothing happened.

-"_Hmm" _He thought scratching his chin, he figured that by now some kind of trap would've been activated but nothing had happened yet "weird" he said scratching his head and resting his left hand on his waist.

Suddenly the sounds of what seemed like something opening, like in those spy movies when a giant metallic door opens itself, started resonating in Arnold's ears he looked at the metal wall on the red bricked wall in front of him to see that it started sliding up to reveal a room with advanced technologic equipment and two rows of computers with some women working on the and at the end of the room was a woman behind a desk also working on a computer, Arnold just walked in and made his way over to the woman behind the desk.

-"Um, excuse me" Arnold said.

-The woman stopped her work on the computer and turned towards him "Yes, what can I help you with kid" she said.

-"I'm here to see Bridget" Arnold answered.

-"Bridget? Hmm, she didn't tell me that she was expecting somebody, wait a minute okay?" the women said and Arnold nodded.

The woman then turned on some sort of communicator she had on her ear and started speaking on it.

-"Boss?" the woman said

-There was a little pause before she said "there's a kid down here saying that he came to see you" the woman paused "yeah" the woman answered to whomever she was talking to before pausing again "yes" she paused yet again "yes" she paused again "Okay, wait a minute" the woman said.

-The woman turned towards Arnold and said "I need you to tell me your name kid".

-"It's Arnold, Arnold Crystal" He told her.

-"Okay" the woman said before turning away from Arnold again "Yes, his name is Arnold" she said through the communicator before pausing again "Alright boss".

With this the woman turned off her communicator and pushed a button that was on her desk to reveal, beneath her, a wall opening itself, sliding to a side and revealing an elevator, Arnold was amused by this and told himself to remind and ask Bridget just where does she gets all this stuff.

-"Okay Arnold, listen, just take the elevator to the second floor and when it opens just make your way over to the metallic door on the end of the room, that's the entrance to the equipment room, there's somebody waiting for you there, and don't worry about the workers up there, they won't bother you" the woman told him.

-"Thank you" Arnold said and proceeded to the elevator.

* * *

While in the elevator, Arnold just leaned casually against the wall listening to the chilly jazz background music that resonated in his ears, once the elevator stopped and the doors opened Arnold stepped out and now he was in a room were there was several technologic equipment and various computers in rows with women working on them, Arnold did as the woman told him and just smoothly made his way across the room, when he reached the metallic door he took a small breath, he knew that Bridget would be there but… also he figured that Eduardo and Marina would be there too, waiting for him… to tell him what could be something that would probably change the young boy's life.

Of course he had done some thinking about this last night too, he knew that whatever awaited him in that room, be it for the good or the bad, he had to be prepared, and he was prepared, for anything that they would tell him, maybe it was indeed wrong not telling his grandparents (or anyone else for that matter) about this, but he fully remembered what Mariana had told him yesterday and if she told him to keep it a secret, it was for a reason, Arnold was fully aware of that, but then again he didn't know what was it so important about the crystal core, yes he had seen it last week on the museum of the city, but if it comes to the terms that it was from San Lorenzo, how come he never heard of it?.

Ever since he found his father's journal he had been doing a lot of research about the country of San Lorenzo like it's cultures, beliefs, education system, ancient reliques, civilizations… but of course he had been doing _most_ of hisresearch about the civilizations, and his main objective had always been the same… the Green Eyes.

The Green Eyes are a civilization that apparently is too secretive, not much is known about them and when he would always come close to finding out something more descriptive about them it would always say on the page or book he was reading that more information could only be found on their home country, San Lorenzo, since some of the information was just too descriptive or was either restricted to be published on countries outside of Central America, Arnold had also done a few trips to the library to collect some books about ancient history and cultures of Central America hoping to _at least_ find some hints of the location of the Green Eyes within the jungles of San Lorenzo… but unfortunately for him that information was always restricted.

Everytime he would come close to finding out more about them, the information would always stop there and say that it could only be available on countries in Central America and a few selected states on other foreign lands, when Arnold came across this he would always just let out a frustrated sigh and would just go back to researching other things about the country of San Lorenzo… but then again if he had been doing _that _much research, how come he had never found anything about something called 'the crystal core', had he missed something?, or probably he just hadn't seen it yet?, he really didn't quite know but he was sure gonna find out right now.

-"_Alright, let's do this" _He though and glanced at the metallic door before pushing a button on the side of it, the door opened itself and he entered the room.

The room was a little bit dark but not too much because of the sun light entering through the windows on the wall in one of the ends of the room and because of that he could see the outlined shadow of a woman who was gazing casually at the city out the window, her back facing him, the almost dark room and the light coming from the window, not to mention the fact that he couldn't see her face, just her back and her brown brunette hair that reached her middle-back, gave her a really mysterious atmosphere, but for some reason Arnold was not even a bit nervous about this, but instead this just gave him a feeling of curiosity.

-"Hello Arnold… I've been expecting you" The mysterious woman said.

-This words made Arnold realize who the mysterious woman was, and he just smiled "wonder why" he said jokingly in a quiet voice.

The woman just snickered quietly and turned around to face the blonde boy, this made him get a much better image from her, even in the dark he could see her rare brown-purple eyes gazing down at him and because of the light coming from out the window he could catch a glimpse of blue color in her clothes.

-"It's good to see you again Arnold" the woman said.

-"Yeah… It's good to see you too… Bridget" Arnold said.

He could see her smirk a little through the darkness and suddenly the next thing that was heard in the room was the sound of her snapping her fingers, the sound echoing throughout the room, with this sound the lights of the room went on revealing the mysterious woman to be none other than Bridget, indeed, Arnold smiled once he saw her.

-"Well, if isn't my youngest recruit, how've you been neighborhood hero?" Bridget said jokingly in her smooth voice.

-Arnold chuckled "Ah, you know, just living my life" he said smiling.

-"As a secret kid agent or something" Bridget said snickering softly.

-"Aw, please Bridget" Arnold replied modestly.

-"C'mon Arnold, how does it feel to be admired by many of the city" Bridget said.

-"Oh, yeah, it feels great" Arnold replied sarcastically "But seriously, you know I didn't do it because of the glory".

-"I know Arnold, I know, but you should really be proud of yourself, not many kids can make it to the first page of the newspaper you know" Bridget said.

-Arnold shrugged "I don't care about the fame Bridget, I just care that my home and my family are safe" he said.

-"Alright, Arnold, now listen" her face turned a bit more serious "I would love to chat with you a little more but now we have to get right down to business, we're running a little low on time".

-Arnold nodded "Right".

-"Okay then, I suppose you already know the reason why you're here" Bridget said.

-Arnold nodded "Well… just part of it to be honest" he said.

-"Well if you want to know the rest of the story then take this and follow me" Bridget leaned her hand towards Arnold showing him what seemed to be some kind of a video casette.

-"And this is for?" Arnold asked.

-"You'll see soon, now follow me, there's someone here that's… just dying to meet you" Bridget said.

Arnold quickly realized who it was and just nodded and decided to leave the questions about the video cassette for later, while Bridget beckoned to him to follow her, Arnold did as told and they exited the equipment room, Bridget and Arnold made their way across the aisle and straight to the elevator, once inside the elevator and when the doors closed Bridget pushed the button for the third floor which was the last floor of the headquarters, while they were going up Bridget couldn't help but glance at Arnold who was just gazing at the casette she had given him, she smiled, she knew that thing was most surely going to help him a lot in… well, Bridget didn't want to think about that yet since they still had to complete the mission that awaited for them... she just knew that Arnold would be ready for whatever awaited him, if he could deal with FTi then he would be able to deal with this, of course he received help, _much_ more help than she actually knew, but Bridget was sure that Arnold would be able to get through this… when he knew the _prize_ he would get…

Oh yes, she knew the boy, she knew him far more than he himself knew, _much _more, after all everyone has to know very well their… _family_… otherwise she wouldn't be…

The sound of the doors opening suddenly resounded through both Bridget's and Arnold's ears, taking them both by surprise for a minute, they just passed it off and exited the elevator, the third floor of the building was not as the first and second, all you could see there would be just a dark hallway with a metallic door at the end of it, Bridget snapped her fingers and lights that were all lined up turned on one by one illuminating the once dark hallway, Bridget and Arnold made their way across the hallway with smooth, quite footsteps, the silence between them being a little uncomfortable, once they reached the metallic door Bridget was about to push the button to open it but suddenly stopped, she bowed her head a little and her eyes took on a 'thinking' look as if she was asking herself about doing something, Arnold, noticing the 'deep in thought' look on her face picked up on this.

-"Bridget?" Arnold called "are you okay?" he asked.

But Bridget didn't seemed to listen to Arnold as she still seemed to be lost in thoughts, the thoughtful look not once leaving her face. Arnold was growing a little worried by now so he tried again.

-"Bridget?" he called, "Bridget" he called a little more loudly but she still didn't listen.

-"Bridget!" he called this time reaching up his hand to touch her shoulder which seemed to have caught her attention this time.

-She finally shook her head "Oh, sorry Arnold I was just thinking about…" she suddenly paused as if she realized she was going to reveal something important "something".

-"Is something wrong?" Arnold asked.

-"No, everything's fine" Bridget assured him.

-"Really?, cause you looked like you were a little-" Arnold said.

-"Arnold…" Bridget interrupted not really sure if she should tell him just yet "look it's just…" she paused yet again.

-"What's wrong Bridget?" he asked "And don't say 'nothing' cause I _know_ something's not okay" Arnold said firmly.

-"And how could you be so sure about that" she said trying to confuse him.

-Arnold's eyes then took on an almost hypnotic gaze at Bridget's eyes "your mouth may say that, but I can _see_ your eyes say otherwise" he said simply.

Bridget was a little impressed by this answer, not many kids could actually say those words in a serious manner such as Arnold's, then again she already knew that Arnold was a bit more mature for his age, her naturally calm half-lidded eyes went slowly all the way down until they were fully closed and for several minutes there was only total silence in the hallway, that is until she let out a small sigh and pushed her brunette hair behind her ear.

-"Listen Arnold…" she began quietly.

She opened her eyes again slowly and then bent in her knees to look at him in the face her rare yet unique brown-purple eyes staring deep into his emerald green eyes, she looked a little bit unsure about this but decided to come with it anyway as she rested her right hand on his left shoulder.

-"Do you remember when I helped you and your friend to save your neighborhood? And that I gave you all what you needed to do it right?" Bridget said and Arnold nodded.

-"Well you see…" she sighed "Don't get me wrong with this, I did helped you and your friend so you could save the neighborhood too, but…" she paused.

-"But?..." Arnold asked growing more and more curious about where this was heading.

-"let's just say I had… other reasons... to help you" she said but Arnold was just growing more confused "one of those reasons was… well… it was mainly… you".

-Arnold blinked a bit surprised by this "me?" he asked innocently.

-"Yes you see… I am not supposed to telling you this… not _right now_, but…" she sighed.

-"What is it Bridget? Tell me" Arnold said growing even more confused and curious but being patient.

-"Look Arnold, I know that, you may think that to _me_ you're only a kid who came to ask for my help once… but you're not" Bridget said.

-"Huh?" Arnold said in great confusion.

-Her purplish-brown eyes gazed even deeper into his green ones "to me you're more than that Arnold… _much, _much more" she said seriously.

By now, Arnold was at the highest point of confusion, he didn't had the slightest clue to were this was heading and this was making him a little frustrated but, sensing his confusion Bridget just decided to get it over with.

-"To me Arnold… you're…" she sighed once again "you're my fa-" her statement was interrupted at the last moment by the sudden sound of the metallic door in front of them were the tall and attractive figure of a woman stood with her hands on her hips, her golden eyes gazing down at Arnold and Bridget, they instantly came to recognize this figure and smiled but couldn't help but feel a little annoyed for interrupting them.

-"Well, there you are, what took you guys so long?" the golden-eyed woman said in her Spanish accent.

-"Hi, Aunt Mary" Arnold greeted smiling.

-"Sorry Mary, we just got hold up a little" Bridget said standing up.

-"It's alright, now enter, Eduardo has been impatient to see you all day!" Mariana said a little more directly to Arnold and smiling.

Arnold just chuckled and nodded

Mariana entered to the room and Bridget was about to enter when suddenly the football-headed kid's voice stopped her.

-"Um, Bridget, what about-" he was interrupted by Bridget putting a hand on his shoulder.

-"I'll tell you later, okay Arnold?, now let's go" she said patting his back and entering the room.

* * *

The green-eyed boy just stood there for a minute staring after her but then just sighed, shrugged and made his way into the room, a short aisle lead him into the actual room, in there he saw a desk in front of him and behind the desk a chair which had it's back facing him, Bridget and Mariana were standing on different corners of the room smiling expectantly at Arnold and the person that was sitting on the chair in front of the desk which Arnold couldn't get a clear view of since the chair's back was facing him, he started walking smoothly and slowly over to the desk, when he reached it, as if on cue, the chair started to slowly turn around and when it was all the way turned Arnold finally caught the glimpse of the man sitting before him.

The man stood up letting the boy before him get a better visage of him, his skin was tanned, his features looked to be Hispanic, his hair was dark, his eyes were light brown but not as light as Mariana's but still bright, he had a mustache and some facial under his chin, he was dressed in a white button-up shirt, blue jeans with a black belt that had a silver cowboy buckle, on his feet were a pair of cowboy black boots and resting on his head was cowboy hat, the man suddenly opened his arms widely and smiled at Arnold as if to welcome him.

-"Ah, it's good to see you again, after so many years" the man said.

The oblong-headed boy was a bit surprised by this words when it finally came to his mind the realization that the man before him was none other than his parents' dear friend Eduardo Galvan.

-"Eduardo?" Arnold asked innocently.

-Eduardo lowered his arms and smiled at Arnold "Welcome Arnold, it's so good to finally see you again" he said.

Bridget and Mariana just giggled while smiling at both Arnold and Eduardo from the corners of the room, Eduardo just stood there studying the boy he hadn't seen in 7 years, he could see that even though he had grown from that baby he was he still looked exactly the same as he did back then.

-"It's a pleasure to meet you Eduardo" Arnold said smiling brightly and extending his hand.

-"The pleasure is mine Arnold" Eduardo said taking his hand and shaking it, but in reality he was holding the urge to hug him, after all he hadn't seen him since he was a baby, and now seeing him 7 years later, it was just amazing.

They both released each other's hands and Eduardo sat back in his chair while Mariana and Bridget came from the corners of the room they were in and stood on each side Eduardo, while Arnold just remained there in front of them. The three adults in question were still a bit hesitant to tell Arnold their purpose of being there and the intention of bringing him into the mix after all he was a still a kid and they weren't completely sure if he could deal with this.

But after all remembering what Bridget had told them about the things he did only to prevent his neighborhood from being destroyed they realized what Bridget already knew…

Arnold was no average kid at all, Bridget had told them that when he was determined to do something that involved helping or advising someone or when he had his sights on stopping something he was sure wouldn't do any good… he would not give up for anything in the world, he would just think of someway to accomplish his goal and press on until he was sure it was all over, succeed or fail.

When Bridget had told them about Arnold's adventure to save his neighborhood from destruction , the FTi incident, Eduardo and Mariana had become really convinced about something.

Arnold was definitely the son of Miles and Stella, they both had an adventurer spirit that would always tell them that no matter how crazy the situation they were in was it would always push them until the end and they were pretty sure that it was that what had pushed Arnold during the whole thing, his own adventurer spirit, his own courage and determination he had inherited from both his parents…

That or it was also that he had probably been pushed by his will, something he would've probably picked up from his mother, after all Stella was a really determined, caring and strong woman, but sometimes when she would set her sights on something she wanted she would become really stubborn and would not give the boot for absolutely anything in the world, but after all they knew that's just what Miles loved about her.

But then again, Arnold took after Stella in his looks, but by what Bridget had said, Miles' attitude lived within Arnold, like his son, Miles had also always been the peacemaker, a really wise man, the one who never picked up a fight, the one who would always look out for someone else, Eduardo had seen that throughout his years in college with Miles, Miles was always one to give advice and seek out to help others who came to him not to mention he was quite smart since he always got really good grades.

But right now was not the time to bring up his parents… not just yet anyway.

The fact that Arnold had already dealed with his own (and probably just his first) adventure gave them the assurance that they didn't had to worry about him and that he would be of great help during this, of course it wasn't like he was going to be alone, he was going to get some help… oh and he sure was going to get a really good help at that.

-"Now Arnold." Eduardo started "I'm sure Bridget here told you about our… reason for coming here".

-"Yeah, she did" Arnold answered.

-"And you know that this has all got to remain a secret, right?" Eduardo said.

-"Well, yeah but, may I ask just _why_ exactly" Arnold said.

-"You see, Arnold, this is a matter of great importance, we can't let anybody else besides _you_ know about this" Eduardo said. "And you also have to understand that you cannot tell anyone about this, not your friends, not your grandparents, not your teachers, _no one_".

-"Okay, fine I won't tell anyone, not one soul" Arnold assured "but, would you mind caring to share the _reason_".

-"Actually, yes Arnold, because the reason is the exact same reason why we need you to help us" Eduardo said.

-"Okay, then, I'm all ears" Arnold said opening his arms for emphasis.

-"Alright Arnold" Eduardo said "I'm sure Mariana has already told you who sent us here" after Arnold nodded Eduardo continued "and I'm sure she has also told you what we are after" Arnold just nodded again.

-"But what she _didn't _tell you… is _who_ we really are doing this for" Eduardo said.

-"_Hmm, we're getting a little suspicious here" _Arnold thought "_okay, just focus on this now, leave the questioning for later" _he thought again and then just nodded. "_I just hope they're at least _willing _to tell me about-"_

-"Listen Arnold, we're here because of some very special people" Eduardo said "people who have done so much for us… people who we really need to help".

The cornflower haired boy got snapped out of his thoughts as he heard what Eduardo said, by now a million things went through his mind and his memories went back to the journal, the people that saved his parents from the waterfall… the people who had saved both his parents and _him _when he was born… and also the people his parents went to save all those years ago.

The green eyes…

But they couldn't be talking about _them… _could they?

Gazing at the ´deep thinking´ look Arnold had on his face in the moment, Eduardo decided to just continue with the subject.

-"Arnold?" Eduardo said.

-This snapped Arnold out of his thoughts, he blinked and shook his head slowly "sorry for that" he said "I just tend to zone out sometimes but, can we please continue?".

-Eduardo nodded "alright, Arnold but, now, I need you to stay completely focused, what we're going to talk about here is not what 10-year-old kid would normally talk about okay?".

-"It's okay, and don't worry, you've got _all_ my attention" Arnold said reassuringly.

-"Very well, then let us begin" Eduardo said "okay Arnold, as you may already know, we're here to recover a very important relique" he said and Arnold nodded "but you must know, this artifact we're looking for is no ordinary jewel".

-"It's not?" Arnold asked.

-"Not in the least" Bridget said "this artifact, Arnold, is _much more_ than just a simple jewel" she stated.

-"_much more..." _as he played this again through his mind he suddenly recalled a part of his father's journal, but he decided not to jump to conclusions so soon, after all they weren't exactly talking about _that_ "and why is that?" he asked just hoping if they would confirm his theory.

-"This artifact has averylarger history than any other has" Mariana said "that relique is really important to the people of our country, Arnold" she said.

-"Arnold, I think this is something that has to be explained by your _relative_, here" Eduardo said gesturing not to Mariana but to _Bridget_.

Just by seeing he meant Bridget when he said _relative, _Arnold's mind went in shock, his went wide with an incredulous look on his face, and he exchanged look between Eduardo and Bridget before he just finally settled his eyes on the woman-spy, he could see that the features on her face had taken on a 'you've-been-discovered' look. He really wanted to say something right now, but he didn't exactly knew how to clear this up so he just came up with the first word he thought of.

-"What?" he half-said half-whispered.

Eduardo now looked puzzled, why did Arnold looked like he was in shock? Why did he looked as if he had just discovered a surprise he didn't even know about? Unless…

-"You haven't told him, have you?" Eduardo asked giving Bridget an annoyed half-lidded look.

-Bridget closed her eyes and sighed pushing some locks of her brunette hair out of her face "I was _about_ to…" she said a little quietly "until _someone _here interrupted us" she said now a little more loudly looking directly at the Hispanic woman.

-"What? I didn-" Mariana was about to defend herself when suddenly she remembered when she opened the doors of the room and found Bridget knelt in front of Arnold… so _that's _what took them so long "oh…" she trailed off when she realized the mistake she had made and cocked her head to the side sheepishly.

-"Bridget" Arnold said cutting-in "what did they mean by that?" He asked urgently, and after Bridget just had a 'deep-thinking' look on her face, he pressed on "just _what _did they mean by _relative_?".

-"Arnold, look…um" she said a bit hesitantly and with her eyes closed "I know that this must all come as a rush to you but… you we're gonna find out sooner or later anyway".

-"Just_, what_ do you _mean _exactly?" Arnold said needing an explanation.

-"Just what you heard" Bridget said finally opening her eyes and looking at him "I'm your relative Arnold, you and I come from the same family" she finally said.

"Arnold was now feeling overwhelmed by the given information "from… the same…" he asked, a shocked expression on his face.

-"Well, not exactly form the _same _family since, I'm not a from your grandparents' family" Bridget said.

-"Wait a minute, if you're saying you're not from that side… then…" Arnold said suddenly completing the puzzle "you… you knew… _her"._

-"Yes Arnold… I knew your mother, because…" Bridget said.

The 10-year-old- boy just stood there waiting for the great revelation while the Hispanic pair in the room just looked at him with expectant eyes.

-"She is my cousin" Bridget finally said.

* * *

**Author notes: **Ha! Bet you didn't see that one coming… or maybe you did… but anyway, I'm sorry If may have taken too long on this it's just that I've been a little busy lately but here it is, at last!

So yeah, this was the little plot twist I added, sorry guys but It just came through my mind and I thought it was a good idea, Bridget and Arnold family… oh well, I may take a little while to post the next chapter but I'll do my best, and yes I think I did Bridget out-of-character in this chapter but next one I'll try to do it better.

Well thanks to anyone who's been reading this and review If you can, stay tunned! See ya!


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